Is Trump legally qualified to be a presidential candidate?

[Bootstrap]

The separation of powers is that the judiciary (particularly low level state or federal judges) are not in charge of the President, no matter how much they might want to be. The President is accountable to the voters for reelection and Congress for impeachment and the Senate for conviction.

I don't know what "in charge of the President" means. Here's what the Constitution says:

Article I, Section 3, Clause 7

Judgment in Cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.

I think that says that Congress can remove a president from office and also disqualify that president from holding "any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States" in the future.

I think it also says that Congress cannot convict the president of any crime. " shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification ..."

I think it also says that a president is still criminally liable for crimes, but not to Congress. "but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law".

Do you agree with the way I read this? If not, could you please explain how you read it?

[Bootstrap]

For reelection, I think this clause is also relevant:

No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

Ah, but who makes those decisions? That's something the Supreme Court is going to be ruling on. Until the current era, there were no live cases to consider.

[JimFoxvog]

The proper forum to convict a President is impeachment and conviction. He wasn’t convicted. The fact Republicans didn’t convict is irrelevant. The simple fact is he was found not guilty.

The proper forum to convict a president of a crime is the same as the place everyone else; a court and jury. He was not found "not guilty", but was not found guilty. There's a big difference. In a court you'd call it a hung jury.

Do you think it be good if random red states found charges to bring against Biden to try to put him in prison? If Trump wins the next election, do you want a witch hunt and show trials to try to put Biden in prison? I think this kind of thing destroys democracy.

No to trying to put people in prison, witch hunts, or show trials, of course. However, when anyone seriously breaks the law, they should have a fair trial. No one should be above the law, especially one whose job is to faithfully execute it. These things are not happening and have not happened in the past, and I don't expect them to happen in the future, unless Trump wins.

How do you think the US should keep want-to-be dictators in check?

[temporal1]

JFV:
.. How do you think the US should keep want-to-be dictators in check?

4 year terms with 2 term limits worked well.

What screwed it up was “no term limits” 2 party Congress members colluding to become 1 party charading as 2, then becoming absolutely intolerant of outsiders who threatened to rock their cozy boat.

[Grace]

How do you think the US should keep want-to-be dictators in check?

How do you think the US can keep want-to-be dictators who are also unelected puppet masters, in check? We are seeing that right now, right before our eyes. The puppet being Biden and the identity of the puppet masters unknown.

[JimFoxvog]

How do you think the US should keep want-to-be dictators in check?

How do you think the US can keep want-to-be dictators who are also unelected puppet masters, in check? We are seeing that right now, right before our eyes. The puppet being Biden and the identity of the puppet masters unknown.

I seriously doubt the assertion of puppet and puppet masters. Any evidence? I know this sort of stuff gets repeated in some circles but I don't consider the opinions of those who promote fringe conspiracy theories to be convincing.

[Bootstrap]

How do you think the US should keep want-to-be dictators in check?

How do you think the US can keep want-to-be dictators who are also unelected puppet masters, in check? We are seeing that right now, right before our eyes. The puppet being Biden and the identity of the puppet masters unknown.

If there's any evidence of that at all, it should be investigated. I think the House of Representatives would be happy to jump on it if you can find them some evidence.

But have you looked at how dictators like Hitler actually come to power? Often, by promoting claims like you just made. It gets to be part of the group think. It builds power for them. So this kind of claim, without evidence, can be dangerous to democracy. That's why we need ways to investigate them in a democracy.

Kind of astonishing the degree of power that Trump says he wants to destroy his political enemies. Not what I would want a president to do. The DOJ should not be used for personal vendettas or political vendettas.

[Grace]

If there's any evidence of that at all, it should be investigated. I think the House of Representatives would be happy to jump on it if you can find them some evidence.

But have you looked at how dictators like Hitler actually come to power? Often, by promoting claims like you just made. It gets to be part of the group think. It builds power for them. So this kind of claim, without evidence, can be dangerous to democracy. That's why we need ways to investigate them in a democracy.


Kind of astonishing the degree of power that Trump says he wants to destroy his political enemies. Not what I would want a president to do. The DOJ should not be used for personal vendettas or political vendettas.

Right now the nation has a president or puppet master, who are attempting to destroy a political opponent by “weaponizing” the court system against that opponent. And that is what is dangerous to democracy.

[JimFoxvog]

Right now the nation has a president or puppet master, who are attempting to destroy a political opponent by “weaponizing” the court system against that opponent.

I know the defendant has made such claims but am unaware of any reason to think these claims are true.

Two of Trump's four criminal trials are in state courts. The president does not have any say in what a special prosecutor of the Justice Department prosecutes. It should stay that way, even if Trump says he wants to eliminate that protection.

[Bootstrap]

If there's any evidence of that at all, it should be investigated. I think the House of Representatives would be happy to jump on it if you can find them some evidence.

But have you looked at how dictators like Hitler actually come to power? Often, by promoting claims like you just made. It gets to be part of the group think. It builds power for them. So this kind of claim, without evidence, can be dangerous to democracy. That's why we need ways to investigate them in a democracy.

Kind of astonishing the degree of power that Trump says he wants to destroy his political enemies. Not what I would want a president to do. The DOJ should not be used for personal vendettas or political vendettas.

Right now the nation has a president or puppet master, who are attempting to destroy a political opponent by “weaponizing” the court system against that opponent. And that is what is dangerous to democracy.

I don't think so. I don't think Biden runs the judiciary or the state courts or state prosecutors or county prosecutors. He is in charge of the DOJ, but as far as I can tell, he has also asked them to work independently and is not calling the shots.

Thing is, Trump actually claims he has the authority to do the very things that people are accusing Biden of. That he has the right to use the DOJ to protect his friends and himself and to persecute his enemies. If there is evidence that ANY president is doing these things, that needs to be taken seriously.

But in investigations. And not by calling for a president to rise up in revenge against political opponents, which is a key part of the current Trump campaign. That is a deeply anti-democratic impulse. We don't want all-powerful leaders who can bypass the protections our legal system has set up. If Biden ever starts promising to exact revenge on Trump using the legal system, that would be just as serious a problem.